Friday, June 28, 2013

Where Are the Libor Cases Against U.S. Banks? - Bloomberg

Where Are the Libor Cases Against U.S. Banks? - Bloomberg
"It would look awfully strange if the U.S. government wound up targeting only foreign banks as part of its investigation into the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate. It’s too soon to say if that will be the end result. But time is marching quickly."

Homebuilders Hurt by Housing Hangover | The Big Picture

Homebuilders Hurt by Housing Hangover | The Big Picture
"Bottom line, the distressed market was “the” housing market for years. It’s what everybody wanted. It has been absolutely responsible for the short squeeze in housing over the past 18 months and a large percent of house price gains (of course, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate being forced down in QE3 from 5% to 3.5% was worth 15% to house prices as well). And the artificial lack of distressed due to loan mods, new anti-foreclosure laws, and perma foreclosure timeline extending — coupled with rates back to pre-QE3 levels — will be responsible for “Hangover 2″ that follows."

Who killed the American dream? - Rex Nutting - MarketWatch

Who killed the American dream? - Rex Nutting - MarketWatch
"Corporate executives receive millions in excess compensation because of rent-seeking. Many executives are mediocre at their jobs, yet receive extravagant pay packages, regardless of their performance. CEO pay increased by 14 times from the late 1970s to 2000, more than twice as fast as stock prices did, ....
CEOs in other countries earn half as much for doing the same job. And we manage to find qualified people to lead other complex organizations without paying them an average of $14 million a year: The president of the United States makes $450,000 a year, including expenses. The chairman of the Federal Reserve makes just under $200,000. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff makes about $250,000."

Thursday, June 27, 2013

CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners | Economic Policy Institute

CEO Pay in 2012 Was Extraordinarily High Relative to Typical Workers and Other High Earners | Economic Policy Institute

"Depending on the CEO compensation measure, U.S. CEOs of major companies earned 20.1 or 18.3 times more than a typical worker in 1965; this ratio grew to 29.0-to-1 or 26.5-to-1 in 1978 and 58.5-to-1 or 53.3-to-1 by 1989 and then surged in the 1990s to hit 383.4-to-1 or 411.3-to-1 by the end of the recovery in 2000. The fall in the stock market after 2000 reduced CEO stock-related pay (e.g., options) and caused CEO compensation to tumble until 2002 and 2003. CEO compensation recovered to a level of 351.3 times worker pay by 2007, almost back to its 2000 level using the option-realized metric. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio based on options-granted, however, returned only to 244.1-to-1 in 2007, still far below its height in 2000 (yet still substantially higher than the 1995 ratio of 136.8). The financial crisis in 2008 and accompanying stock market decline reduced CEO compensation after 2007–2008, as discussed above, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio fell in tandem. By 2012 the stock market had recouped much of the value it lost following the financial crisis. Likewise, CEO compensation has grown from its 2009 low, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio in 2012 had recovered to 272.9-to-1 or 202.3-to-1, depending on the measurement of options."